REPORT  I 

OF  THE  °XK!i$i<? 

COMMISSIONERS 

APPOINTED  BY  THE 

LEGISLATURE  OF  NEW  YORK, 
On  the  8th  of  March,  181*, 
For  the  Internal  Improvement  of  the  State* 

THE  commissioners  appointed  in  and  by  an  act  of  the  le« 
gislature  of  the  state  of  New  York,  to  provide  for  the  interna* 
improvement  of  the  state, 
Beg  leave  to  report— 

That  in  compliance  with  their  official  duty,  having-  made  the 
fullest  enquiries  and  investigations  in  their  power,  they  have 
appointed  an  engineer  to  trace  out  the  course,  and  estimate  the 
expense  of  the  proposed  canal ;  as,  also,  to  superintend  such 
portion  of  the  whole  line  as  may  be  approved  of  by  the  legis- 
lature. He  would  probably  have  arrived  before  the  present 
hour,  had  impediments  to  an  intercourse  with  Great  Britain 
been  removed. 

They  sought  a  proper  character  in  that  country,  preferably 
to  any  other,  because  from  its  extensive  interior  communica- 
tion by  canals,  railways,  and  other  expedients,  they  expect  that 
a  more  intimate  knowlege  of  useful  facts  can  be  obtained  there 
than  elsewhere  ;  and  because  an  Englishman  speaking  the  same 
language,  and  habituated  to  the  same  usages  and  manners,  will 
more  easily  acquire  information  among  us,  and  be  less  liable 
to  imposition. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  engineer,  the  commissioners  will  im- 
mediately direct  such  surveys  to  b?  made,  as  may  be  necessa- 
ry, in  order  to  ascertain  the  exact  line  of  the  canal  from  Lake 
Erie  to  the  Hudson;  and  when  this  work  is  completed,  the 
estimates  of  the  engineer  shall  as  soon  as  possible  be  laid 
before  the  legislature,  who  will  then  be  able  to  form  such  a 
decision  as  will  best  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  state. 

The  commissioners  have,  in  the  mean  time,  caused  further 
investigations  to  be  made,  and  would  not  have  suspended  the 
surveys,  as  they  did  during  the  last  summer,  but  for  military- 
operations  which  are  not  favorable  to  internal  improvements, 
They  have,  however,  the  satisfaction  to  state,  that  every  exa- 
mination tends  to  show,  not  only  the  practicability,  but  the 
facility  of  this  enterprise  ;  so  far  as  the  term  facility  can  reason- 
ably be  applied  to  a  work  of  such  magnitude.  They  add  with 
much  pleasure,  that  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  extend  this  com- 
munication to  the  fertile  vales  watered  by  the  Susquehannah 
and  its  wide  spreading  branches.  Hence,  they  presume,  that 
the  public  spirit  which  has  always  characterised  Pennsylvania, 
inll>  at  a  proper  time,  induce  her  to  co-operate.   It  may,  in* 


2 


deed,  be  objected,  that,  to  facilitate  the  intercourse  of  a  com-  I 
l;r  mercial  rival,  may  be  of  more  comparative  loss,  than  positive  I 

advantage.  But  far  be  such  jealousies  from  the  councils  of'  1 
New  York:  Marked  by  nature  for  gieatness,  and  strong  in  the  I 
consciousness  of  intrinsic  strength,  she  will  always  feel  that  no-  I 
bleness  of  soul  which  would  rather  accelerate  than  retard  her  j 
neighbor's  prosperity. 

The  commissioners  cannot  quit  this  branch  of  the  subject, 
"without  stepping  a  little  out  of  the  road  in  which  they  ought 
strictly  to  walk,  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  their  belief,  that 
the  communication  long  since  contemplated,  between  Lake 
Champlain  and  Hudson's  River,  may  easily  be  effected  ;  and, 
thus,  another  of  those  great  avenues  be  opened,  which  Pro*  I 
vidence  lias  so  well  prepared,  that  little  more  is  left  for  thef',  I 
state,  than  merely  to  will  the  possession  of  wealth  and  power. 

The  commissioners  have,  also,  conformably  to  the  power*  I 
conferred  on  them,  applied  for  and  obtained  grants  of  land,  ^  | 
a  schedule  whereof  is  annexed  to  this  report.    It  would  be 
improper  not  to  acknowlege  the  liberality  of  the  grantors;  but  ' 
it  would  be  doing  injustice  to  their  intelligence,  should  it  be 
doubted,  that  a  prudent  regard  to  their  own  interest  had  its  pro- 
per share  in  their  determinations.    The  clear  sighted  percep- 
tion of  mankind,  respecting  matters  which  affect  their  property, 
opened  to  their  view  the  benefits  which  they  must  derive  from 
this  extensive  inland  communication.    They,  as  apart,  see  and 
feel  what  the  state,  as  a  whole,  must  acquire  by  it ;  and  the  4 
solidity  of  their  opinion  is  the  less  to  be  questioned,  as  the 
light,  in  coming  to  their  mental  vision,  has  neither  been  inter- 
cepted by  the  opacity  of  dull  conception,  nor  refracted  by  pass- 
ing through  mediums  of  misrepresentation. 

The  value  of  these  lands  will  encrease  by  every  year  of  ap- 
proaching settlement,  and  every  avenue  of  amended  access,  x 
"whether  by  improving  old  roads  or  making  new  ones.  Wei 
may,  therefore,  safely  calculate,  that  in  the  course  of  twenty  or  j 
thirty  years,  the  proceeds  of  these  lands  will  reimburse  to  the  j 
state  no  small  portion  of  the  expense  it  may  incur  by  complct-4 
ing  the  whole  line  of  the  proposed  canal,  and  here  we  must  1 
remind  gentlemen,  of  what  has  frequently  occurred  to  their* 
own  reflection,  that  although  twenty  or  thirty  years  be  a  large  1 
portion  of  individual  existence,  they  form  but  a  short  period  ofj 
national  duration. 

The  commissioners  have  also  performed  the  duty  of  attempt-  I 
ing  a  loan  in  Europe,  conformably  to  the  terms  and  within  the  j 
limits  prescribed.  They  have  reason  to  believe,  that  theirj 
efforts  would  have  been  crowned  with  success,  had  not  the  de- J 
claration  of  war  been  nearly  simultaneous  with  the  grant  oflfl 
authority  to  make  a  loan.  The  attempt  having  failed,  no  far-  J 
ther  measures  have  been  adopted  in  relation  to  this  object. 

The  commissioners  having  thus  rapidly  recited  facts,  which.  1 
it  is  their  duty  to  communicate,  would  be  wanting  to  the  public  {j 
interest,  did  they  not  notice  attempts  to  excite  opposition  to  the  ■ 
work  committed  to  their  charge.  They  have  examined  in  their  J 
preceding  reports  the  reasons  advanced  by  its  opposers,  and  8 
would  endeavor  to  answer  other  reasons,  if  any  such  they  could  M 


3 


hear  of.  In  the  face  of  incontrovertible  facts  the  supposed  su- 
periority of  what  is  called  the  natural  communication,  by  Lake 
Ontario,  has  been  strongly  insisted  on,  and  of  late  the  prodi- 
gious advantage  of  carrying  on  the  internal  trade  of  America, 
through  sea-ports  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  was  ostentatiously  dis- 
played, to  prove,  that  a  canal  through  the  western  district  of 
New  York  is  an  idle  project. 

These  gentlemen  could  not  indeed  deny,  that  there  is  some 
risk  in  navigating  the  lake,  and  some  difficulty  in  descending 
the  river;  but  neither  the  risk  nor  the  difficulty,  nor  both  com- 
bined, are  considered  as  serious  obstacles.  To  men  of  such 
sanguine  temper,  it  is  useless  to  observe,  that  this  communi- 
cation would  be  much  more  expensive  than  the  one  contem- 
plated, and  that  it  is  closed  from  November  to  May  by  the  rigid 
laws  of  nature  ;  but  what  are  the  laws  of  nature  to  gentlemen 
'enamored  with  their  own  conceptions.  ^Disdaining  to  consider 
the  actual  state  of  things;  whenever  map  makers  trace  a  stream, 
they  find  a  military  and  commercial  highway.  Should  there  be 
a  want  of  water,  it  is  supplied  by  their  depth  of  intellect;  should 
the  surface  be  covered  with  ice,  it  is  thawed  by  their  warmth  of 
imagination.  To  contend  with  such  men  is  no  easy  task,  for 
they  make  facts  as  they  go  along,  and  reasons  they  disclaim, 
insisting  that  whatsoeever  they  think  proper  to  approve  of  is. 
sublime ;  whatsoever  they  think  proper  to  dislike,  is  absurd. 
From  these  decrees,  pronounced  with  an  air  of  censorial  gravity 
and  the  contemptuous  smile  of  superior  intelligence,  they  admit 
of  no  appeal.  Far  from  imitating  them,  the  commissioners  will 
not  have  the  hardihood  to  question  their  sagacity,  neither  will 
they,  after  industriously  applying  the  share  of  common  sense 
allotted  to  them  by  the  Divine  Goodness,  to  the  object  of  their 
appointment,  pretend,  even  on  that  subject,  to  vie  with  gentle- 
men, whose  privilege  it  is  to  understand,  and  whose  prerogative 
to  decide,  according  to  the  inverse  proportion  of  their  knewlege. 
With  all  due  deference,  nevertheless,  to  such  ethereal  minds, 
they  are  constrained  by  stubborn  habit,  to  adhere  to  the  opinion 
of  intelligent  professional  men.  And  here  the  commissioners 
beg  leave  to  remark,  that  they  are  much  misunderstood,  when 
it  is  supposed,  that  they  recommend,  exclusively,  a  canal 
descending  according  to  the  level  of  the  country  like  an  inclined 
plane.  On  the  contrary,  their  project  embraces  the  system  of 
locks  as  well  as  the  other,  and  their  opinion  is,  that  the  opera- 
tion must  be  regulated  by  the  nature  of  the  country,  taking  into 
view  the  diminution  ©f expense  and  the  shortening  of  distance. 
And  they  beg  leave  to  call  to  the  recollection  of  the  legislature, 
the  decided  opinion  of  Mr.  Wm.  Weston,  one  of  the  most 
eminent  civil  engineers  in  Europe,  who  was  formerly  employed 
by  the  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Company  of  this  state,  and  who 
is  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  country.  In  a  letter  to  one  of 
the  commissioners,  he  says,  "  Should  your  noble  but  stupendous 
"  plan  of  uniting  lake  Erie  with  the  Hudson,  be  carried  into 
"  effect,  you  have  to  fear  no  rivalry.  The  commerce  of  the 
"  immense  extent  of  country,  bordering  on  the  upper  lakes,  is 
f*  yours  forever,  and  to  such  an  incalculable  amount,  as  would 
«  baffle  all  conjecture  to  conceive.   Its  execution  woujd  confer 


«  immortal  honor  on  the  projectors  and  supporters,  and  would 

a  in  Its  Eventual  consequences  render  New  York  the  greatest 
«  commercial  emporium  in  the  world,  with  perhaps  the  cxeep- 
m  tHn,  at  some  distant  day,  of  New  Orleans,  or  some  other 
«  depot  at  the  mouth  of  the  majestic  Mississippi.— From  your 
«  perspicuous  topographical  description,  and  neat  plan  and 
"  profile  of  the  route  of  the  contemplated  canal,  I  entertain 
«  liulc  doubl  of  the  jiracticability  of  the  measure — Perhaps 
U  this  is  the  only  question  which  the  legislature  should  be 
«  particularly  anxious  to  have  resolved.  The  cx/iensc,  be  it  what 
«  it  may,  is  no  object  when  compared  with  the  Incalculable 
«  benefits  arising  therefrom,  though  doubtless,  it  will  deserve 
«  attention,  that  the  money  granted  liberally,  be  wisely  and 
economically  expended." 
All  which  is  humby  submitted. 

GOUV.  MOUNTS, 
S.  VAN  RENSSELAEB, 
BE  \\  1  IT  CLINTON, 
SIMEON  DB  vvt  i  T, 
PKTEB  I*.  POBTEB, 
THOMAS  EliDY, 
UOCKitT  FULTON, 


SCHEDULE 

Of  cessions  of  lands  agreed  to  be  ...ade  to  the  people  of  this 
state,  as  a  free  gift  for  promoting  the  execution  of  canal  naviga- 
tion from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson  : 

Jicres. 

Paul  Rusti,  Esq.  agent  for  the  Holland  Company  in  behalf  of_8aid1()0  ^ 
company,    -      -      -       -      *       *      "      "      "      "  o'ito 
Le  R.n  Havanland  V'Evers,     -       -       -       -       -      ■       ■  J™ 
John  Grete,  Esq.  in  bebalf  of  governor  Hornby,    -      -       -  J,™ 
Robert  Troup,  Esq  agent  for  the  he  rs  ot  sir  William  I  ulteney, 
will  make  a  large  grant  in  behalf  of  the  heirs,  as  soon  as  his 
pow  rs  as  agent  of  that  estate,  which  have  ceased  by  the  death 
of  his  constituent,  shall  be  renewed. 
And  the  commissioners  have  reason  to  expect  considerable 
grants  from  other  sources. 

As  eoon  as  t  >e  deeds  making  those  cessions  are  perfected, 
topics  Will  be  transmitted  to  the  legislature. 


5 


THE  ADVANTAGES 

OF  THE 

PEOPOSED  CANAL 

FROM  LAKE  ERIE  TO  HUDSON'S  RIVER, 

FULLY  ILLUSTRATED  IN  A  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN 
GOUYERNEUR  MORRIS  AND  ROBERT  FULTON,  ESQRS. 

New  York,  February  22d,  1814. 

To  Gouverneur  Morris,  Esq.  President  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
the  Western  Canal. 

Sir — Numerous  engagements  have  hitherto  prevented  my 
paving  that  attention  to  the, report  of  the  commissioners  which 
the  importance  of  the  subject  merits ;  but  that  yoa  may  have 
evidence  of  my  desire  to  give  all  the  aid  in  my  power,  to  an 
enterprise  so  sublime,  (for  I  deem  that  a  sublime  national  work, 
which  will  secure  wealth,  ease  and  happiness  to  millions,)  I 
have  transmitted  to  writing  some  observations,  which,  should 
you  consider  them  of  any  utility,  you  will  make  use  of,  as  you 
think  proper. 

In  the  report  of  March,  1812,  page  9,  the  commissioners 
gave  calculations  on  the  expense  of  conveyance  by  canals,  which 
calculations  were  drawn  from  the  experience  required  on  canals 
in  England,  as  to  the  quantity  of  work  that  two  horses  and  three 
men  could  do  in  eight  hours  ;  to  which  adding  the  wear  and 
tear  of  the  boat  and  canal,  the  decay  of  horses,  and  interest  on 
the  capital  expended,  in  purchasing  horses  and  boats,  also  the 
profit  on  the  boat,  and  the  wages,  which  are  higher  in  this 
country  than  in  England,  it  is  shewn  that  the  total  expense 
amounts  to  no  more  than  one  cent  per  ton  per  mile.  As  I 
passed  three  years  at  various  canals  in  England,  to  obtain  prac- 
tical knowledge  on  the  manner  of  constiucting  them,  and  to 
make  myself  familiar  with  their  advantages,  and  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  some  of  the  best  engineers,  I  know  this  calcu- 
lation to  be  correct.  Hence  one  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  is  one 
dol'ar  a  ton  for  100  miles,  while  the  usual  cost  of  waggoning 
is  one  dollar  and  sixty  cents  per  hundred  weight  for  100 
miles,  or  thirty-two  dollars  a  ton.  It  consequently  follows, 
that  on  a  canal,  a  ton  weight  could  be  boated  3200  miles  for 
the  sum  now  paid  to  waggon  it  100  miles  ;  and  the  persons  at 
3200  miles  from  a  good  sea  port,  would  have  all  the  advantages 
of  trade,  or  of  bringing  their  produce  to  market,  which  those 
who  reside  only  100  miles  from  market  now  enjoy,  provided  the 
canal  were  toll  free. 

Therefore,  as  cheapness  of  transport,  united  to  safety  and 
certainty,  are  the  great  objects  of  all  public  improvement,  in 
canals,  rail  ways  and  roads,  the  one  cent  per  ton  per  mile  is  the 
most  powerful  argument  in  favor  of  canals,  and  must  ever  be 
present  in  the  mind  of  the  political  economist,  in  all  his  reflec- 
tions and  reasonings  on  the  advantages  of  such  works.  From 
this  one  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  I  will  draw  some  interesting 
calculations  on  the  present  price  of  freight  in  sloops  on  Hudson's 


6 


river,  between  New  York  and  Albany,  and  shew  that  it  could  be 
done  much  cheaper  by  a  canal ;  the  proof  of  them  will  be  conclu- 
sive, that  if  a  canal  can  give  advantages  superior  to  sloop  navi- 
gation on  Hudson's  river,  which  is  one  of  the  most  rectilinear 
and  best  in  the  world,  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  one 
contemplated  must  be  vastly  superior  to  every  kind  of  road, 
river  or  lake  communication  from  Lake  Erie  to  Hudson's  river. 
The  usual  price  of  freight  from  Albany  to  New  York,  is, 

For  a  barrel  of  flour,  from       -----      2*.  to2«G*/. 
Do.       do.        pol-ashcs,         .....  3 
Do.      do.       pork,  3 

To  avoid  errors,  I  will  state  the  average  charge  at  2s.  6d.  the 
barrel,  and  allow  ten  barrels  to  one  ton  weight.*  Thus  a  canal 
boat  of  fifty  tons,  would  carry  five  hundred  barrels,  which  at 
ten  dollars  a  day  in  expense,  and  twenty  miles  in  speed,  would 
arrive  from  Albany  in  eight  days  for  eighty  dollars,  and  as  staged 
in  the  report  referred  to,  would  amount  to  one  cent  per  ton  per 
mile,  or  one  hundred  and  sixty  cents  lor  ten  barrels  from  Albany 
to  New  York;  equal  sixteen  cents  a  barrel,  instead  of  thirty 
paid  to  sloops,  thereby  producing  a  saving  of  fourteen  cents  a 
barrel,  or  one  hundred  and  forty  cents  a  ton. 

It  is  no*v  to  be  seen  what  this  economy  would  amount  to  on 
the  whole  number  of  tons  carried  on  Hudson's  river  in  one 
season.  From  the  returns  of  the  custom-house,  I  find  that  400 
sloops  or  vessels  of  every  description  are  employed,  averaging 
60  tons  burthen  ;  tho^c  that  trade  to  Albany  make  11  trips  up 
and  1 1  trips  down,  in  a  season  ;  those  that  trade  to  Newburgh, 
Poughkecpsie,  and  other  landings,  make  more  voyages,  and 
hence  the  whole  may  be  averaged  at  equal  twenty-one  trips  be- 
tween New  York  and  Albany,  each  sixty  tons  a  trip,  would 
amount  to  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  tons  a  year,  and 
the  four  hundred  vessels  would  carry  five  hundred  and  four 
thousand  tons  of  every  kind  of  material ;  but  as  they  return  from 
New  York  not  more  than  half  loaded,  I  will  estimate  the  average- 
trips  at  forty-five  tons,  or  a  total  freight  of  thirty-nine  thousand 
three  hundred  tons,  on  which  the  economy  of  one  hundre  d  and 
forty  cents  a  ton,  gives  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  two 
hundred  dollars  in  favor  of  the  canal ;  which  is  interest  at  ten 
per  cent,  for  five  millions  five  hundred  and  two  thousand  dol- 
lars, equal  thirty-four  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
dollars  a  mile  for  constructing  the  canal,  a  sum  more  than  suffi- 
cient for  that  purpose. 

If  it  be  admitted  that  the  four  hundred  sloops  cost  on  an 
average  three  thousand  dollars,  their  capital  is  one  million  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  on  which  the  wear  and  tear,  at  fifteen 
per  cent,  is  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  dollars  a  year. 

A  canal  boat  of  fifty  tons,  can  make  a  trip  to  and  from  Albany 
in  twenty-four  days,  allowing  time  to  load  and  unload  ;  in  which 
time  she  would  transport  seventy-five  tons,  allowing  only  one 
half  for  return  cargo;  she  could  make  eleven  such  tiips  in 
a  season,  carrying  eight  hundred  and  twenty -five  tons  ;  and 
four  hundred  and  seventy-seven  boats  would  be  adequate  to 

*  Pot-ash  and  beef  barrels  weigh  more  than  flour,  but  cotton  bags  and  bales  of 
•dry  goods  weigh  less ;  for  equal  bulk,  the  fiour  barrel  is  a  fair  average. 


r 


the  transport  of  the  three  thousand  ninety-three  tons  before  esti- 
mated for  the  sloops,  each  canal  boat  would  cost  five  hundred 
dollars,  and  the  total  number  two  hundred  and  thirty^eight 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  instead  of  one  million  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  the  expense  ©f  the  sioops.  On  the  canal 
boats,  the  wear  and  tear  would  not  be  more  than  ten  per  cent, 
because  there  are  no  sails  or  cordage.  These  annual  repairs 
would  therefore  be  twenty-three  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  instead  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  dollars, 
the  repair  of  the  sloops;  giving  an  economy  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty-six  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year  on 
wear  and  tear  only  ;  the  other  great  expense  of  sloops  or  river 
craft  over  that  of  canal  boats,  is  in  wages.  Sloops  which  cost 
from  three  to  five  thousand  dollars,  require  men  of  some  capital 
to  build  them,  who  expect  at  least  twenty  per  cent,  per  annum 
on  their  first  cost,  or,  on  the^one  million  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars.  A  river  vessel 
must  also  have  a  captain  and  pilot  of  some  talents  and  consi- 
deration, with  pay  superior  to  canal  boatmen.  The  river  craft 
must  have  more  hands  to  do  the  like  quantity  of  work,  hence 
the  four  hundred  captains,  averaging  a  pay  of  five  hundred 
dollars  each  per  annum,  which  is  one  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars  more  than  received  by  canal  boatmen,  is,  per  annum, 

S48,000 

The  superior  number  of  hands  to  the  sloops,  may  be  esti- 
mated at  one  to  eaeh  sloop,  whose  wages,  three  hunnred 


and  sixty -five  dollars  a  year,  is*  146,000 

194,000 

Economy  of  interest  on  capital,  as  before  stated,  -  156,150 
Interest  to  the  owners  of  the  sloops  on  the  capital  advanced 

at  twenty  per  cent.   240,000 


S590,150 

This  result  approaches  the  advantages  in  favor  of  the  canal  as 
before  stated. 

That  the  owners  of  water  craft  must  have  this  twenty  per 
cent,  on  their  capital  is  obvious  ;  for  if  an  old  stene  sloop  cost 
six  hundred  dollars,  and  has  but  two  men  and  a  boy,  twenty  per 


cenf.  would  be  but   <§120 

Admitting  the  captain's  wages  to  be  superior,  captains  hav- 
ing more,  -  400 

Pilot,   300 

Boy,   200 

Wear  on  the  sloop  at  fifteen  percent.      -      -      -  go 


Total,    Si  110 

for  the  maintenance  of  3  persons  and  their  families,  also  interest 
on  the  capital,  and  the  wear  of  the  sloop. 

But  if  the  present  population  gives  this  important  trade  to 
160  miles  of  sloop  navigation,  may  we  not  look  forward  with 
perfect  confidence  to  that  of  the  next  twenty  years  for  producing 
a  trade  which,  if  required,  will  pay  ample  interest  on  the  capital 
to  be  expended  in  executing  the  canal. 

*  Although  the  sloops  are  worked  only  eight  months,  the  earnings  should  be 
such  as  to  maintain  the  man  for  a  year. 


1 


Had  it  pleased  the  Author  of  the  Universe  to  have  drawn 
Hudson's  river  from  lake  Erie,  a  calm  and  gentle  sir  am  of 
10  feet  water,  the  reflecting  mind  would  contemplate  with  gra- 
titude the  Divine  munificence  ;  and  he  who  feels,  t ;  at  160 
miles  of  navigation  on  Hudson's  river,  is  a  blessing  to  this 
state,  would  compare  the  successive  range  of  extended  benefits 
and  draw  exact  estimates  of  national  wealth  from  160  niles  of 
easy  communication  to  the  western  extremity  ol  Lake  Superior. 

For  if  Hudson's  river,  collecting  freight  from  its  surrounding 
country,  and  an  interior  not  more  distant  than  Cayuga  or  Ontario, 
now  bears  on  its  waters  near  400,000  toi.s  per  annum,  where 
shall  the  mind  be  arrested  ;  on  what  number  of  tons  shall  it 
dwell  ?  when  coining  from  the  population  of  the  next  20  yi  ars, 
and  the  countries  which  surround  Lakes  Superior,  Michigan, 
Huron  and  Erie,  and  a  canal  of  300  miles  through  a  fertile 
country  ?  Compared  with  the  trade  now  on  Hudson's  river,  it 
cannot  be  le«.s  than  a  million  of  tons  each  year  :  And  Jo-  ihc 
following  reason*  :  Where  the  canal  unites  to  the  Hudson's 
river,  the  man  who  lives  10  miles  from  the  river  and  10  from 
the  canal,  will,  ^  hen  he  has  his  produce  in  a  waggon,  go  direct 
to  the  river  ;  but  he  who  lives  30  miles  from  the  riv«  r  and  5 
from  the  canal,  will  carry  it  to  the  canal  ;  and  he  who  lives  50 
miles  from  the  river,  will  go  30  to  the  canal ;  he  who  lives  300 
miles  from  the  river,  will  waggon  his  produce  100  miles  to  tnc 
canal  ;  thus  the  canal  would  draw  in  the  trade  of  a  country 
forming  a  triangle,  with  a  base  line  200  miles  long,  and  from 
thence  to  the  apex  300  miles,  equal  a  range  of  country  300 
miles  long,  100  miles  wide,  or  30,000  square  miles. 

Eqtai;                               Acres,  19,200,000 
Lake  Erie  will  draw  in  the  trade  for  100  miles  ronnjd  ils 
'margin  ;  Huron  and  Michigan  from  a  like  distance, 
Lake  Superior  from  150  miles,  all  of  which  may  be 

estimated  at   30,000,000 

Total,  Acres,  49,200,000 

A  quantity,  if  I  recollect  right,  not  far  short  of  the  whole  of 
England,  (Arthur  Young  states,  England,  Ireland  and  Scotland 
contain  90  millions  of  acres.) 

The  population  of  England  is  about  one  soul  to  6  acres,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  time  will  come  when  the  popu- 
lation in  the  countries  here  indicated  will  be  1  to  10  acres, 
or  4,920,000  persons  ;  a  number  equal  to  half  the  population 
of  England,  whose  industry  and  necessities  must  cause^more 
than  1  million  of  tons  to  move  through  the  canal  in  a  season  ; 
which  million  of  tons,  carried  at  so  low  a  rate  as  to  enable 
every  thing  useful  to  come  to  market,  would  also  produce 
abundant  interest  on  the  capital  expended  ;  for  atone  cent  a  ton 
per  mile  in  expences,  the  transport  on  300  miles  of  canal, 
would 

Cost,  $3  00 

And  from  Albany  to  New  York,  _  J 

Total,  &5  50 


9 


dr  55  cents  a  barrel  ;  if  then  50  cents  for  toll  were  charged 
on  each  barrel,  or  25  cents  a  hundred  on  merchandise  and  other 
materials  for  passing  through  the  canal,  still  the  barrel  or  200 
•weight  would  arrive  at  New  York  for  1  dollar  50  cents  ;  which 
50  cents  toll  or  5  dollars  a  ton,  would,  on  one  million  of  tons, 
give  5  millions  of  dollars  a  year,  or  50  per  cent  for  10  millions 
to  make  the  canal  ;  admitting  that  from  Lake  Superior  to  the 
commencement  of  the  canal  at  lake  Erie,  the  expence  should 
be  1  dollar  a  barrel,  it  would  arrive  at  New  York,  from  that 
distant  region,  1,600  miles,  for  two  dollars  ;  the  price  which 
it  now  costs  to  waggon  a  barrel  of  flour  about  130  miles,  at 
which  distance  the  expence  of  coming  to  market  checks  agri- 
culture and  the  improvement  of  the  country  ;  therefore  this 
canal  and  passage  through  Lake  Erie  into  Lake  Superior  will 
ever  be  cheaper  than  transport  on  our  much  admired  river  Mis- 
sissippi, even  when  she  shall  have  the  advantage  of  steam- 
boats. For  from  Louisville  to  New  Orleans,  a  distance  of  1,545 
miles,  the  freight  is  1  dollar  50  cents  a  barrel,  but  to  come  up 
from  New  Orleans  to  Louisville,  it  is  four  and  a  half  dollars  a 
hundred  weight,  or  9  dollars  a  barrel. 

Hence  this  great  work  would,  as  a  lucrative  speculation  for 
a  company  of  subscribers,  be  superior  to  any  banking  associa- 
tion or  incorporated  body  now  known,  and  in  every  point  of 
view  is  worthy  of  this  great  state  ;  by  drawing  forth  its 
resources  and  those  of  other  states  into  and  through  this  state  ; 
as  a  source  of  abundant  revenue  obtained  by  the  economy  of 
labor,  and  consequently  a  clear  gain  to  the  state,  as  a  means  of 
strength  by  consolidating  population,  and  as  an  immense  object 
of  real  glory,  a  vast  and  noble  example  to  our  sister  states. 
Such  are  the  conquests  worthy  of  a  great  and  enlightened! 
people,  conquests  as  lasting  as  the  waters  that  nourish  them) 
and  of  which  we  could  never  be  deprived. 

All  that  is  left  honorable  to  the  fame  of  Louis  XlVth  is  the" 
canal  of  Languedoc  and  his  public  highways ;  his  military 
conquests  were  lost  before  he  died  ;  his  canal  and  roads  alone 
remain  blessings  to  France. 

Not  more  than  40  years  ago,  the  duke  of  Bridgewater, 
regardless  of  public  prejudice,  constructed  the  first  canal  in 
England,  in  length  about  30  miles ;  it  gave  him  immortality  and 
130,000  d©llars  a  year;  his  success  and  good  example  have 
been  the  cause  of  many  hundred  miles  being  since  executed  in 
various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  on  which  the  easy  conveyance  of 
the  ponderous  articles  of  agriculture,  manufactures  and  com- 
merce, has  greatly  promoted  the  improvements  of  that  country, 
and  added  to  her  wealth  and  power. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  this  canal  runs  nearly  parallel  to  the 
river  Mersey,  the  former  channel  of  communication  from  Man- 
chester to  Liverpool;  it  was,  therefore,  thought  absurd  to 
contend  that  a  canal  should  rival  river  navigation  ;  as  some 
persons  now  believe  it  visionary  to  cut  a  canal  any  where 
bordering  on  our  lakes  ;  but  the  river  Mersey,  like  our  lakes, 
was  an  imperfect  navigation,  embarrassed  by  uncertainty  and 
•a    *:£*lsclue'  tne  c»nal  was  without  risque  and  certainty  to  deliver 


1* 


A.hc  goods  at  a  given  place  in  the  appointed  time ;  it  therefore 
drew  the  trade  from  the  river  and  left  it  a  deserted  stream. 
In  fact,  that  a  communication  may  be  perfect,  the  trade  must 
pass  with  equal  ease  each  way;  it  must  not  be  subject  to  the 
impediments  of  calms  or  contrary  winds  on  the  lakes;  or  what 
is  worse,  to  freshets,  Jioods  or  shoals,  which  are  common  to 
fresh  water  rivers. 

But  seeing  our  vast  lakes  and  rivers,  there  is  nothing  more 
natural,  than  to  associate  the  idea  of  navigation  with  them,  and 
lead  the  mind  on  through  locks  to  Ontario,  and  along  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  Qucbeck  ;  but  the  best  of  all  practice,  the  practice 
of  English  and  Dutch  canals,  have  proved  how  vastly  inferior 
such  communications  are  to  the  one  contemplated;  and  the 
calculations  which  I  here  submit,  will,  I  hope,  make  it  clear 
to  every  unbiassed  mind  ;  but  were  the  conveyance  by  the  lakes 
and  St.  Lawrence  mere  perfect  than  it  ever  can  be,  and  Canada 
ours,  it  could  never  be  good  policy  in  New  York,  to  let  so 
immense  a  trade  go  by  that  course,  to  the  infinite  injury  of 
this  state.  I  have  shewn,  and  I  hope  clearly,  that  were  the 
Intended  canal  to  cost  ten  millions  of  dollars,  it  would,  in  a  few 
years,  produce  five  millions  a  year;  but  say  3  millions,  then  it 
would  pay  its  capital  in  less  than  four  years,  and  give  a  revenue 
to  this  state  without  a  tax,  of  from  three  to  five  millions  a  year, 
with  which  income  this  state  might  proceed  with  other  and 
greater  improvements  to  its  own  glory,  and  incalculable  benefit. 
A  canal  is  in  reality,  like  a  great  labor-saving  machine  in  the 
possession  of  a  prudent  and  skilful  manufacturer  ;  the  ceconomy 
and  profits  of  which  are  applied  to  extending  his  works  and 
increasing  his  capital.  Here  the  state  is  proprietor,  and 
possesses  the  capital  to  execute  the  work,  which,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say,  vf  ould  be  an  inexhaustible  mine  of  wealth,  that 
in  a  few  years  would  give  to  this  state  the  most  refined  order 
of  public  improvement ;  for  if  my  calculations  be  correct,  and 
I  challenge  any  one  to  confute  them,  on  principles  <,f  increasing 
population  and  industry  ;  the  canal  yielding  five  millions  a  year, 
would,  in  twenty  years,  give  one  hundred  millions,  to  be* 
expended  in  other  canals,  bridges,  roads  and  improvements  ; 
what  could  be  done  with  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  ?  All 
reflecting  men  can  conceive  and  calculate. 

By  this  statement  you  will  perceive,  that  I  am  not  for  a  canal 
free  of  toll ;  my  reason  is,  that  the  whole  inhabitants  of  the 
state  being  responsible  for  the  necessary  funds  to  construct  it, 
or  the  interest  thereon,  they  who  benefit  by  the  canal  should 
pay  such  toll  as  will  return  the  interest;  and  not  only  so,  but 
they  should  pay  at  least  as  much  toll  as  I  have  stated,  which 
still  leaves  them  an  immense  advantage  in  coming  to  market, 
yet  produces  an  ample  fund  for  other  improvements.  It  is 
therefore,  I  think,  evident,  that  if  a  reasonable  toll  can  produce 
an  annual  income  which  in  time  will  improve  the  whole  state, 
it  is  the  interest  of  the  whole  state  that  the  canal  should  be 
made  and  the  toll  laid. 

My  estimate  of  1  million  of  tons  a  year  is  for  9  months  equal 
5£03  tons  a  day,  or  74  boats  a  day,  to  pass  the  locks  at  12 


11 

minutes  for  each  boat,  will  require  from  14  to  15  hours,  or  a 
double  range  of  locks.  On  this  subject,  and  the  manner  of 
executing  the  canal,  I  will  perhaps,  at  a  future  day,  trouble  you 
with  another  letter. 

I  am,  sir,  respectfully, 

Your  most  obedient, 

ROBERT  FULTON. 

Morrisania,  March  3,  1814. 

Sir— -I  have  this  moment  received  your  letter  of  the  22d  of 
iast  month,  which  I  consider  as  so  valuable,  that  I  shall  transmit 
a  copy  to  Albany,  that  it  may  be  communicated  to  members  of 
the  legislature,  without  stopping  t©  examine  minutely  your 
calculations,  in  the  persuasion  that  they  are  substantially  cor- 
rect :  moreover,  the  basis  being^esiablished,  the  only  difference" 
as  to  results  must  be  about  the  more  or  less,  while  the  least  is 
sufficient  for  your  general  conclusion. — You  shew  that  this 
canal  will  be,  to  the  state,  a  mine  more  valuable  than  those  of 
Potosi  to  Spain.  I  have  never  ventured  to  develope  what  my 
judgment  contemplated  from  this  measure,  because  1  had 
learnt,  from  experience,  that  results  of  a  certain  magnitude, 
even  when  bottomed  on  mathematical  demonstration,  are  treated 
as  light  and  fanciful  by  those  who  measure  the  whole  world  with 
the  limited  standard  of  their  own  comprehension.  The  benefits 
to  result  from  canals,  which  may  at  a  trifling  comparative  ex- 
pence  be  made  through  different  parts  of  the  state  of  New 
York,  were  a  subject  of  my  serious  meditation,  many  years 
before  I  ventured  to  disclose  them;  and  even  then,  the  project 
was  treated  more  like  the  dream  of  a  schemer,  than  the  matured 
reflection  of  a  sound  mind. 

The  money  produced  which  you  exhibit  is  not  the  greatest 
advantage  which  I  have  been  led  to  expect.  Improvements 
assist  each  other,  and  contributing  to  mutual  advancement,  tend 
to  general  perfection.  The  great  vivifying  principle,  on  which 
a  thousand  astonishing  consequences  depend,  is  this,  that  what- 
ever saves  labor  rewards  labor.  And  permit  me  to  remark  on 
this  occasion,  and  in  this  place,  that  among  the  wonderful 
effects  which  a  full  developement  of  this  principle  has  produced 
in  Great  Britain,  it  is  not  the  least  that  after  twenty  years  of 
war  expence,  at  the  beginning  of  which  many  who  are  consid- 
ered as  models  of  political  wisdom  declared  her  to  be  on  the 
verge  of  bankruptcy,  after  the  proud  and  generous  defiance  of 
a  world  in  arms  to  rescue  a  world  in  chains,  she  gives  this  year 
between  forty  and  fifty  million  of  dollars  to  the  continental 
powers,  who,  though  they  have  long  enjoyed  the  continental 
system  devised  for  her  ruin,  are  unable  to  defend  themselves 
without  the  aid  of  her  treasure. 

I  say  it  is  the  great  vivifying  principle  on  which  that  nation's 
wealth  and  power  depend,  that  every  thing  which  saves  labor 
rewards  labor.  By  diminishing  its  money-price,  it  occasion^ 
a  new  diminution,  each  effect  becoming  a  cause,  so  that  each 
is  a  step  in  the  ladder  by  which  she  ascended  to  the  pinnacle 
of  prosperity.    I  say  the  money  price  to  distinguish  it  from  the. 


18 


real  price  :  for  money  is  but  an  instrument  of  transfer  in  the 
bank  account*  of  political  economy.  The  pecuniary  stipend  of 
a  laboring  man  represents  bis  bouse  rent,  fuel,  food  and  raiment. 
In  proportion  then,  as  tbose  articles  which  form  the  real 
stipend  are  reduced  to  their  money  price,  his  labor  can  bear 
a  similar  reduction. — But,  causes  preceding  effects,  every  such 
reduction  contributes,  in  the  first  instance,  to  bis  ease  and 
comfort ;  and  only  affects,  consequentially,  the  price  of  his  labor, 
by  the  competition  of  bis  brethren.  Thus,  the  canal  which 
brings  fuel  from  one  quarter,  food  from  another,  the  national 
accumulation  of  wealth  which,  lowering  the  rate  of  interest, 
lessens  the  rent  of  houses,  built  more  cheaply  also  from  mate- 
rials more  cheaply  collected  by  workmen  more  cheaply  paid, 
the  labor  saving  machines  which  supply  cheaper  clothes  and 
tools  from  raw  materials  brought  by  canals,  more  cheaply  to 
the  manufactories,  all  these  causes  working  together  make  the 
Englishman's  shilling  nearly  equal  to  the  American's  dollar  : 
enabling  him  therefore,  to  sell  for  a  shilling,  what,  by  the  high 
price  of  labor  consequent  on  the  manner  and  expence  of  living, 
is  not  made  here  for  less  than  Five  such  shillings  or  one  of  our 
dollars.  Now  it  is  self  evident  that  in  a  general  competition 
for  any  one  article,  they  will  get  most  of  it  who  will  give  most 
for  it.  It  follows  therefore,  that  those  who  will  give  the  most 
for  money,  in  other  words  those  who  will  sell  cheapest,  will 
have  the  most  money. 

In  relinquishing  the  large  revenue  of  which  the  canal  will 
undoubtedly  be  susceptible,  I  contemplated  two  objects  distinct 
though  connected.  First,  that  the  more  cheap  shall  be  the 
transportation  the  more  extensive  will  be  the  theatre  of  its 
operation;  and  secondly,  that  the  greater  shall  be  the  mass  of 
the  products  which  it  brings  down,  the  greater  will  be  the 
commercial  interchange  of  returning  merchandize,  and  the 
greater  the  encouragement  to  manufacturers  by  the  encreased 
cheapness  and  comfort  of  living,  together  with  the  cheapness 
and  abundance  of  raw  materials.  It  is  here  that  I  look  for 
ample  compensation  to  those  parts  of  the  state  which  seem  to 
be  less  interested  than  our  western  district,  but  which  are  far 
more  interested  than  they  seem.  You,  whose  mind  has  long 
been  turned  to  the  contemplation  of  such  objects,  you  will  not 
be  surprised  when  I  tell  you  that  I  believe  the  effect  of  our 
proposed  canal,  will  make  the  shores  of  the  Hudson's  river, 
in  fifty  years,  almost  a  continued  village.  Compare  the  country 
from  Albany  to  Waterford,  with  what  it  was  in  1785.  Look 
also  at  the  effects  already  produced  by  your  steam  boats. 

But  it  is  needless  to  discuss  now  the  best  mode  of  managing 
■  that  great  concern.  You  shew  that  it  may  be  made  to  produce 
a  vast  revenue,  while  conferring  inestimable  benefit  on  our 
neighbors.  This  is  sufficient.  If  afterwards  it  appears  that 
^  lowering  the  toll  and  thereby  encreasing  and  extending  that 
benefit,  would  be  still  more  advantageous,  the  legislature  wil? 
act  accordingly. 

1  aa»,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

CrQUYERNEUR  MOIiRfS, 


tm  *  1 


